Diana Taurasi becomes the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer passing Tina Thompson
The Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi became the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer Sunday afternoon in a game against the Los Angeles Sparks. She surpassed Tina Thompson’s previous mark (7,488 points), which was set in 496 career games. It was the 377th career game for Taurasi who has spent her entire WNBA career with the Mercury. This season she is averaging 18.2 points per game.
“Diana Taurasi is one of the fiercest competitors to ever play the game of basketball,” said league president Lisa Borders. “During her 13 seasons with the Mercury, she has shown everyone the kind of heart, determination and talent it takes to be a champion. Congratulations on becoming the all-time leading scorer in WNBA history.”
Video courtesy Texas Athletics
“Congratulations to Diana on becoming the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer,” said Thompson, currently a college assistant coach at Texas. “I am excited that it is Diana and it is my absolute pleasure to pass the torch on to her. She and I have shared so many amazing moments throughout our basketball careers, whether it was gold medals, championships or all-star games. Diana is one of the best players to ever play the game and definitely one of my favorites. She has done amazing things and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to share many of those with her. I am really excited for Diana and I think she is going to blow that record out of the water.”
The basket to move Taurasi past Thompson came with 45.3 seconds remaining in the 2nd-quarter. The Sparks came out with the win, 90-59.
Taurasi, 35, already owns the top two single-season scoring marks in league history (2006, 2008), the league record for 20-point and 30-point games, and has led the league in scoring a WNBA-record five times (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011).
